The European Commission has refused to make available the risk assessment report on glyphosate prepared for the European Food Safety Authority. Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. The risk assessment will determine glyphosate’s renewed authorisation in the European Union. The pesticide lobby is pressing Europe to … Continue reading European Commission refuses access to glyphosate assessment →

UK union body TUC is calling for union safety reps to ensure workers are not exposed to a cancer-causing pesticide. A new briefing says because of the unquestionable risks posed by glyphosate, which can also cause short- and long-term skin, eye and respiratory problems and serious liver and kidney damage, it is “necessary to try … Continue reading TUC calls for action on glyphosate →

Global agrochemicals giant Monsanto has faced a double hit, ordered to make another massive cancer compensation payout and accused of compiling a potentially illegal dossier on its opponents. On 13 May 2019, a jury in California awarded more than $2bn (£1.5bn) to a couple who said the best-selling weedkiller Roundup was responsible for their cancer. … Continue reading Monsanto hit by new cancer and surveillance exposure →

An academic journal has conceded that agrochemicals giant Monsanto didn’t fully disclose its involvement in published research that claimed Roundup, the world’s best selling herbicide, is safe. The ‘Expression of Concern’ issued by Critical Reviews in Toxicology, a journal that analyses health risks of chemicals, may bolster arguments that Monsanto, acquired by Bayer this year, … Continue reading Scientists hid Monsanto’s involvement in their ‘independent’ research →

A leading UK professor has defended a major World Health Organisation (WHO) agency that has been ‘vilified’ by industry lobbyists after it determined the pesticide glyphosate to be ‘probably carcinogenic’ to humans. In an expert opinion on the well-resourced, high level industry attack on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Neil Pearce, a … Continue reading UK prof defends WHO cancer agency against industry attack →

A US worker stricken with a life-threatening cancer he believes was caused by his use of the pesticide glyphosate is taking its manufacturer, Monsanto, to court. The case of Dewayne Johnson v Monsanto Co is now underway in a San Francisco, California federal court, two-and-a-half years after the lawsuit was filed. Johnson (above), a former … Continue reading Cancer-stricken worker puts Monsanto on trial →

Regulators in the the US and Europe have been accused in turn of colluding with or capitulating to the global agrochemical lobby as it seeks to keep a cancer-linked herbicide on the market. Global food and farming union IUF slammed a 15 March 2017 ruling by the European Chemicals Safety Agency (ECHA) that the toxic … Continue reading Regulators collude with or capitulate to the agrochemical lobby →

The woman chosen by president Donald Trump and now confirmed as the US ambassador to the United Nations has launched a scathing attack on the international body which could embolden an industry lobby angry at the UN’s role in assessing chemical cancer risks. During her confirmation hearing , Nikki Haley said: “When we look at … Continue reading Chemical industry emboldened by Trump’s new UN ambassador →

Voting in the European Parliament, public opinion and credible, independent scientific research appear increasingly irrelevant to the European Commission (EC) when it comes to the protection of public health and the environment, the global farm and food union has charged. Peter Rossman, of the plough-to-plate union federation IUF, writing in Social Europe, noted: “An estimated … Continue reading Global union IUF slams EC on chemicals retreat →

The food system must be ‘transformed’ to keep deadly pesticides out of the workplace and the food chain, the global farm and food union federation IUF has said. The union body was speaking out in the wake of a 20 March 2015 online report in the journal Lancet Oncology, which revealed the International Agency for … Continue reading Roundup, WHO and the pesticide lobby →